BradClark

Ecellent thread conversation. I can only add that it's all depending on area you live in, new or old home and rural or city property. I was lucky to sell my semi rural house 2 years back before the recent rate cut cycle. I heard through the selling agent that the new owner is stuck trying to find tenants. At the time my mortuage rate was $250 a week in repayments and the new owner wants $350 pw.

Brisbane. Great weather, happy locals, can't complain. Sydney has the cosmopolitan and happening nightlife with great food & coffee, but rubbish weather and unhappy people.

My brother has a mate that is a mica paramedic (one of those specialist ones). From what I'm told the only problem they really have with pay is how it's not standard across Oz. Work in NSW and get 10k more per year then one working in Vic. Other then that, only other gripes are with politicians and ramping times.

If you privatise the bublic transport sector, give the company existing infrastructure that is decades old and a piece of junk, don't invest any money in modernising it, you end up with it falling apart on days it can't cope.

Doesn't matter if it's in the UK or in OZ, there will always be a sub-group of society that will try and milk the system for all it's worth. There will always be genuine people that need the payments though and those that don't need a kick up the bum.

Well with Abbot and co in charge of Oz now, who knows what direction pension laws will be going. I do agree though Jen85, 25 years in country should be more then enough years worth of tax, medicare and other services paid to the gov.

Just keep in mind the closer inner city you go, the more expensive rents it's going to be.

After a holiday to Thailand I'd feel safer walking the streets of Bangkok at 3am, then I would here in Melbourne. Just way to many agro drunk young men out on the town looking to get into a fist fight.

Melbourne has great coffee, inner city pubs with live bands, wonderful multicultural food choices and lots of great shopping lanes and avenues. Adelaide has retired people, churches and pot smokers. :biglaugh: